


Meet the Team

by jjuu1l



Series: Junior Avengers and Friends [4]
Category: Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: But not alot!!, Firsts, I wrote this in like two days after having it sit half finished on my laptop, Katie-centric, Original Character Hurt, The story no one asked for but I wanted to write, curse words, for like three months, oopsy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 11:47:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13589397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjuu1l/pseuds/jjuu1l
Summary: The first time Katie meets her team, she’s terrified. She doesn’t have powers. She barely knows how to fight at any level. Not to mention the fact she’s currently failing her algebra II class.





	Meet the Team

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pinkie1201](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Pinkie1201).



> Hi! I know that not a lot of people read this but I really enjoy writing these, and I've got a few ideas for all of these characters so this series isn't ending any time soon. I will have to admit it might go dormant if school starts getting too busy again but right now I have that under control and I can post things!!!

The first time Katie meets her team, she’s terrified. She doesn’t have powers. She barely knows how to fight at any level. Not to mention the fact she’s currently failing her algebra II class.

“This isn’t a good idea.” She’s talking to her dads but a girl on the other side of the training room turns towards her. She’s wearing a mask and doesn’t look any older than 10. But then she’s turned away from Katie and fighting three grown men and _winning._ The girl is stunning as she twists around their fists and uses her small size to her own advantage. Needless to say, Katie’s impressed.

On the other side of the room a boy with a devil’s smile is taunting a girl with ice cold eyes.

“Come and get me!” He yells but the girl with ice cold eyes doesn’t move. He gets impatient fast and attacks first. Ice incases his hands turning into Wolverine claws. She rolls her eyes at him and rolls out of the way. He fumbles on the ground after missing her and lands on his shoulder.

“Don’t be a hothead, try to think ahead.” She smiles from her spot and suddenly she’s on fire. It shocks Katie for a minute before the boy is jumping back over at her. They continue to fight when Katie’s eye is drawn in by Violet.

Violet is the only person Katie recognizes in the room. She’s running back and forth doing a series of quick paced mental tests. She waves to Katie before an older girl yells at her to continue.

“It’s a great idea Katie, you just need to get to know them.” Billy replies and Katie frowns at her dad. He gives her a smile. “This is how your dad and I met, so maybe you’ll meet someone.” Katie glares at him. He doesn’t know it, but she’s got her eye on someone else.

“Dad, you guys met when someone stuffed you in his locker.” She points out, her dad looks a little sheepish, but Teddy swoops in to his rescue. Like he always does.

“Yes, but we got to know each other when we went patrolling together on the job. Remember that Billy?” Katie looks away, barely holding in a gag as they give each other heart eyes. She doubts she’ll meet and fall in love with anyone the way her dads did. They were this anomaly in hero relationships, high school sweethearts turned super power couple turned super parents to a kid without a trace of magic or alien DNA.

“You know what. I think I left the oven on, maybe we should go back and-” Katie’s quickly interrupted by a force that knocks her off her feet, landing several feet away. She hits the padded ground with a _thud_ and frowns up at her cousin. “It’s rude to interrupt people by running into them and knocking into them.”

Violet rolls her eyes and pulls both of them up. Once they’re both up Violet pulls her into a tight hug. Katie won’t lie, it’s a comfort she’s missed. Ever since Violet had left New York to live in California (only making the daily trek back for school and her team) it took a lot out of her, and consequently limited their hanging out to within school hours.

“You know us clones, rude as hell.” She and Katie laugh at the joke, but her parents remain silent. Their laughter dies as Violet glances up at them. They didn’t have anymore time to talk before Daniela came over, frowning at Violet.

Daniela was somewhat of a legend in Katie’s house. Though her parents talked about the amazing Daniela Cage. Indestructible, Strong, Brave as hell, the girl took up the mantel of Captain America after Steve Rogers passed. She’s only in her twenties, and yet she’s done so much. Katie’s both jealous and in awe of her, along with having a teeny tiny crush on her. Not that she’d tell anyone that.

“Violet, I see that you’ve abandoned your training to talk to your girlfriend. Care to introduce me?” Katie and Violet started to laugh, much to Daniela’s dismay. It’s only when her parents have to stifle their own giggles that she begins to realize she’s made a mistake. “Not a girlfriend then, so why don’t you introduce me to this little lady you’ve decided is more important than training.” This line of questioning catches the small girl from across the room’s attention, and before she’s completely aware of what’s happening, Katie’s standing trial in front of several people.

“This is Katie, she’s a Libra, loves long walks on the beach, and is currently looking for a relations-” Katie’s not proud that her instinct when trying to get Violet to be quiet is to elbow her. But it works, and even gets her a few laughs. “She’s also my cousin?”

“We’re probably cousins.” Katie responds. It’s the closest thing that Katie can give Violet before they have to explain Violet’s long history. They all nod in response, ice boy getting a look on his face like he wants to ask another question but a look from fire girl is enough to keep him quiet.

 “What are your powers?” It’s the blind girl who speaks first, and it’s the scariest question Katie could’ve imagined. She can feel her parents tense up behind her, it’s a question that’s been asked hundreds of times before today, but for some reason, right now it feels like a test of some kind.

Her face is red as they all look her over. The girl with ice cold eyes glances over her quickly, analytically, whilst her partner seems to stare at every part of her with interest and no real reason. Katie guesses he’s trying to make the girl jealous. It doesn’t seem to be working though.

“I don’t have any.” Katie answers honestly. The small girl stares at her for a minute, or, no, she doesn’t stare at her. She stares at a spot just a few inches over her left shoulder. The small girl was the only one that hadn’t looked her over.

Everyone stays silent, continuously glancing over at the small girl. Katie realizes this must be their team leader. Violet glares at her with a frown, instinctively moves in front of Katie. In that moment the dynamic in the room changes.

“Do you have any fighting experience?”

“Nope.”

“Tactical experience?”

“If you count video games.”

“Do you have experience with mutants?”

“Definitely.”

“You’re tasked with taking down a Skrull, what do you do?”

“Why do I need to take down a Skrull?”

“What?”

“Why do I need to take down a Skrull? Who are they? Why are they here? Is it someone like Hulkling or Xavin? Or a solider?” Katie frowns at the question. She can tell the question is given to her for a reason, for what reason she can’t tell yet, but if this girl knows who she is then she knows what this question might mean to her.

The small girl smiles. It’s the kind of smile Katie doesn’t like to see on villains. The kind that mean everything is going to plan, going in their favor. On her it feels like an achievement. As if Katie needs to impress this girl in the way the girl had impressed Katie several minutes before.

“My name’s Cara, Cara Stevens. It’s nice to finally meet you Katie, your dads talk about you a lot.” She sticks out her hand. Katie responds slowly, giving her parents a confused glance before shaking the girl’s hand. Violet’s rolling her eyes as she moves back to beside Katie, like she’d expected this the entire time. “Welcome to the team.”

“Oh, oh, I’m sorry but I’m not here to join the team. I’m just visiting.” Cara doesn’t frown, doesn’t act surprised. Instead she blinks and pulls her hand back.

“This is Ingrid and Nash,” She gestured first to the boy and then to the girl. “Ingrid has ice powers and Nash has fire powers.” Katie frowns, because that’s definitely not right. Especially since she’d just seen their power sets.

“Are you sure? Because I swear I just saw Ingrid using fire and Nash using ice.” She said, Cara smiled again. Nodding, happy with the questions Katie was asking. She continued to introduce Daniela and Violet, messing up their last names and powers. Encouraging Katie to correct her when she says the wrong thing.

Katie feels like she’s being vetted for a job, auditioning for a part that she didn’t know about. This strange interview goes on for several minutes before she realizes her dads have left and she’s leading this team in a mock battle against invisible opponents.

By the end of the practice she’s toying with the idea of asking to be apart of the team, and the team’s toying with the idea of making her leader.

 

The first time Katie leads the team into battle she panics. She sends the wrong pairs to the wrong location, tells the wrong people to do the wrong thing, at one point she even tries to order the villain around. By the end half of the team needs stitches and the other half needs a ten-year nap.

Katie, not able to go into battle, waits for them to return. Pacing back and forth in her control room, thinking of endless ways to apologize.

“I’m sorry I told Ingrid to incinerate the rope that was holding up all of the hostages. I’m sorry I told Cara to watch Ingrid’s back. I’m sorry I told Nash to grow a pair and create a bridge so that the hostages would just slide down instead of falling to their deaths. I’m sorry I told Violet to go faster to make sure the hostages didn’t crash into that building. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She says, a mantra of guilt. When her team finally does make it back, she can’t say any of her apologizes.

“Holy shit! Did you see that ice bridge? I had no idea you could do that!” Violet babbled, setting Nash down on a cot as a robot nurse came to tend to his wounds. Cara’s smiling as she lays herself down on a cot a few feet away. “Also, can I just say that it’s insane that Katie actually got us through that battle?”

The rest of the team nodded while Katie stood frozen. Gotten them through it? But she’d almost gotten them killed.

Yes, they’d saved the hostages from death, but most of them had bruises and broken ribs as a reminder of that day. Had they caught the villain? Yes, after freezing them and letting that frozen block tumble to the ground and crash open. That person would be stuck in a hospital for weeks, maybe even months while they recovered. Katie didn’t know how any of them counted this as a victory.

“It went better than my first day. I’ll say that much.” Cara replied smiling in Katie’s general direction. There’s no doubt in her mind that Cara can barely think coherently right now, not after having her head slammed into that wall. And she’s smiling. At Katie.

“I’m just glad to see you all alive.” Katie admits, it ruins the mood for a few seconds. Reminding them all that superheroes don’t always make it out of these things alive. But then Violet replies that she’d have to try harder than that lousy battle to get rid of them, and everything goes back to the adrenaline high euphoria that filled the room.

 

The first time Katie watches one of her teammates get seriously hurt she cries. Ingrid’s rolled into the Avenger’s mansion on a gurney with her eyes wide open and hijab slipping. Violet quickly fixes it the best she knows how before letting Nash or any of the adults in to see her. The adults determine she’ll need to rest before they run any tests, Ingrid’s left with a few medical robots and her team.

She’s terrified that Ingrid will never wake up, never walk again. She’s terrified that Ingrid’s hate filled stare will be the last thing she’ll have, their last words filled with disappointment and anger. Katie doesn’t know if she can go on knowing the last thing she said to her friend was something filled with anger. Something she doesn’t even remember.

The team stays by her side until the adults force them to at least sleep. The team, minus Ingrid, all leave. Escorted by a superhero Katie recognizes vaguely from her parent’s description to a room filled with bunk beds. Katie knows this room is somewhat of a new addition to the tower. After realizing too many teen superheroes were homeless or had injuries too severe to risk their parents seeing, they added this room so at the very least the teens could relax until they could go home.

They don’t go to sleep. Not right away. They picked bunkbeds close to the door and talk. About missions. About practice. About their ‘other’ lives.

“Dad wants me to join the football team, which sounds like hell. I don’t have an athletic bone in my body! I mean, without the crystal’s help I wouldn’t be able to catch a yoga ball without missing it by a few feet.” Nash complains, easily the most normal out of their little group. A classic story of boy meets girl. Boy finds strange alien device. Boy becomes the only saving grace of an entire planet he’s never been too. Boy finds out girl is really an alien bent on destroying the planet he’s been tasked with saving.

“I saw Tommy the other day. I was running through New York to get to school before they realized I’d skipped third period. And he ran past me. I only saw him for a millisecond or two, but it was enough to trigger the memories.” Violet murmurs, barely audible. Easily the best out of them, Violet had been trying to get Tommy to talk about what was happening for as long as she had her own identity. He, being the most frustrating person in the universe, sidestepped even acknowledging Violet’s existence.

Katie’s heard Violet talk about how she wants to just talk to him. Get to the bottom of whoever created her, get them to apologize. Then maybe Tommy will talk to her, acknowledge her, explain some of the memories she still has of him. ‘It’s a fever dream,’ she says with a sad kind of smile, ‘but it’s still a dream’.

“Foggy and Matt are finally getting Karen a new assistant. After five years dealing with them she deserves a whole team, but they can’t really afford that right now. They say if I want to, I can intern there. It’d work out well too. They’ve already got the top technology for Matt to do his thing, I’m not sure if I want to stay though. I feel like I’ve spent too long under their wings. I kind of want to get out and try something on my own.” Cara admits when Nash and Violet have fallen victim to sleep.

Cara doesn’t talk about her ‘other’ life as much as everyone else. She’s a private person, which Katie respects, but it doesn’t stop her from wondering how she must act when she’s out of uniform. Is she a social butterfly? Something tells Katie that much of a personality change is extremely improbable, though the romantic side of her acknowledges that it’s totally and completely possible.

Cara hasn’t shared her backstory. One that’s no doubt as tragic as she pretends to be. Nothing as superhero chic as Nash’s story, or as homegrown as Katie’s. Hopefully nothing as life changing as Ingrid’s, or bittersweet as Violet’s.

Katie does know a few things about Cara. She knows that she lives and works with the original Daredevil, knows that she hates when people make a big deal out of her being a blind superhero. Knows she has a soft spot for white haired speedsters, and the ability to make a grudge last decades. Hates shellfish and loves fruit.

Their conversation dissolves into silence and before Katie’s ready, she falls asleep.

When they wake up the next morning Ingrid is complaining about the food they’re giving. It’s a relief to hear her talking again. It’s even more of a relief to hear she’ll be able to go home later that afternoon.

 

The first time Katie cries in front of her team she’s laying in a bed. In a different universe. With two pairs of her parents at different points in their lives. She’s tired and sad and confused and wants to sleep for a few decades. Katie smiles at her team, each standing up for her, despite what she’s said, despite the fuck ups she’s had, despite her tears and bad days.

 

The first time Katie realizes she loves everyone on her team, she says it.

**Author's Note:**

> ALSO I am working on a longer fic in this universe, I just finished the first chapter and I'm currently working on the second, so as soon as I'm done with the second I plan to start posting it! I'd also like to thank @Pinkie1201 for your comment, because believe it or not, it got me out of my writing funk and inspired me to actually finish this fic and start on the next one!


End file.
